The intimate little gestures between these two people fell one by one into Ma Junying’s eyes. Even though he felt somewhat disappointed inside, he still maintained excellent manners. He looked toward Xia Zheng, cupping one hand in the other as a salute and asked, "I am Ma Junying from Ma family Manor, may I inquire about the gentleman’s honored name?"
Xia Zheng was in the midst of a staring contest with Lin Yuan, fully engaged, and this guy’s interruption really annoyed him. He replied indifferently, "Xia Zheng."
Receiving such an impolite refusal, Ma Junying also noticed Xia Zheng’s hostility toward him. However, he was not the least bit angry; instead, his interest grew. He suddenly blurted out, "Miss Lin is a fine young lady indeed!"
Xia Zheng’s eyes narrowed, shelving the childish joke he had been playing with and finally gave Ma Junying his full attention with a sardonic smile, "Indeed. Only, she’s already taken."
"Oh, is that so?" Ma Junying pretended not to fully understand, deliberately said, "Miss Lin seems to be even younger than my little sister. I had no idea she was already betrothed?"
Lin Yuan hurriedly explained, "No, no, Young Master Ma, don’t listen to his nonsense. I’m still young, still young."
What a joke. If others thought she was betrothed at such a young age, wouldn’t they point at her backbone and curse her? Her parents hadn’t even spoken yet. In this era where marriages were arranged by parents and facilitated by matchmakers, privately set lifelong commitments were considered a scandal. Even if she didn’t care and Xia Zheng didn’t care either, she had to think about the future.
Ma Junying breathed a sigh of relief inside and laughed, "So she is not yet betrothed, then I am relieved."
Xia Zheng’s gaze turned even more dangerous. Relieved, relieved about what! What’s it to you!
Fearing the two men would start fighting again, Lin Yuan quickly grabbed Xia Zheng’s arm, smiling as she urged Ma Junying, "Young Master Ma, weren’t you going to select some pastries for Miss Ma? Our shop has just introduced a few new kinds, so please, come inside and take a look."
Ma Junying nodded but suddenly glanced at Xia Zheng and with a raised eyebrow, smiled, "New pastries? Could I trouble Miss Lin to introduce them to me?"
Before Lin Yuan could finish, Xia Zheng pulled her behind him, revealing the most innocent and purest smile he had ever shown, "Does Young Master Ma need someone to introduce them? Well then, it just so happens that I am quite familiar with the shop’s pastries too. Yuanyuan still needs to attend to other customers, so how about let me do the introduction for Young Master Ma, huh?"
"Is Young Master Xia an employee at Rice Flower Fragrance?" Ma Junying sized up Xia Zheng and for some reason, he found Xia Zheng’s smile to be extremely dangerous.
Xia Zheng laughed heartily, grabbing Ma Junying’s arm and began to drag him inside, "I am not an employee; I am the boss!"
Lin Yuan’s face was covered in black lines, Xia Zheng was the best at disguising himself; the more harmless he seemed, the more dangerous he was.
After all, Ma Junying was a customer of hers, and she couldn’t let anything happen to him.
"Xia Zheng, you better not..."
"Yuanyuan, be good and wait here for me to come back, okay?" Xia Zheng’s deep eyes stared intently at Lin Yuan, making it really hard for her to refuse. Or perhaps, if she refused, Xia Zheng’s jealousy might get even worse, and he might just chop Ma Junying on the spot.
"Then, be quick about it."
Young Master Ma, sorry about that. Xia Zheng just likes to be a bit mischievous sometimes, he means no harm, really. You, take care of yourself.
Xia Zheng, elated, dragged Ma Junying into the shop and shouted, "Liuzi, bring a sample of every kind of pastry in the shop to Young Master Ma, remember, only the best ones, hurry up!"
Having spent a lot of time by Xia Zheng’s side, with a blink of the eye, Liuzi could guess what he was thinking.